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Four successful elderly gentlemen, members of the Chowder Society, share a gruesome, 50-year old secret. When one of Edward Wanderley's twin sons dies in a bizarre accident, the group begins to see a pattern of frightening events developing.

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It referenced scenes and dialogue from the book but this aint the book. Alice Krige must have been around 27 when she did this film and boy was she a cutie ! A very cute figure as well and for her sake I added an extra star.My attitude towards movies tends to be 'acting shmacting , anyone can do it including my dog at the dinner table tell me about the story' and the story of the novel is engaging, nuanced and very creepy ! 'Xala Xalior Xlati' what a skin crawlingly peculiar thing to invent. The novel got a little verbose in some of the expositions but when they were fully developed they played into the story seamlessly. The idea that ancients walk among us teasing tormenting and ruining our mortal existences for their own idle hate doesnt really hold up to questioning but its presented (for the most part) in an engaging way , engaging enough to serve as a story driving device at any rate but defining these creatures (Mobly/ Galli) only in referencing terms to 'werewolves , ghosts,and vampires and the hobgoblins of mans fears and so forth seems to do an injustice to what they really could be defined as in the story. But it IS just a ghost Story and not a symposium on hypothetical evolution , still ,I would have readily enjoyed a more thoughtful development of the Mobly/ Galli 'creatures' origins relative to its motivations. There is a passage in the novel that referes to 'her' and her ...well....'servants' I guess as Manitous , I guess that is as close a s Straub wanted to get as far as defining 'her'.Ghost Story is my first of his novels but im going to work my way through all of them and perhaps he will continue their story.BTW , My copy of Ghost Story is in audible format which I purchased from Amazon and listened to on my Kindle Fire ( not a particularly enamoring device but it works).There are indeed some creepy scenes in this film , when Alma Mobley was pulled under the water in the bathtub scene and only her hair was visible for just a few too many seconds , that was unnerving

Nice quality DVD. The movie graphics are obviously outdated, but it still looked nice. The movie itself isn't too much like the book. They left out one of the main characters and changed up the plot. Still good, though!

The four upperclassmen that make up "The Chowder Society" entertain themselves by telling each other startling tales of the supernatural. What they don't realize is that they are about to experience a frightful encounter of their own when the ghosts of the past return to haunt them! The leisurely pace and character-driven plot make GHOST STORY is a fitting name for this old-fashioned spook show. Flickering fire light, thunderstorms, and creaky floorboards set the mood over unexpected shocks, although a few rotted corpses do pop up along the way. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, and the great Fred Astaire are all rather rusty, but they are not nearly as bad as the the film's poorly-aged effects. Its stronger points come in form of subtle scares that Irvin produces through his reflective surfaces and suffocating atmospherics. GHOST STORY has a classic Gothic appeal that will find an audience in fans of BURNT OFFERINGS, THE CHANGELING, or LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH.

I read the book and wanted to see the movie. As with many movies, they take out things that made the story so interesting and included things that didn't do much for it. The acting, even for back then was mediocre to my surprise given the lineup.

Great film all together, and the quality is nicely done. The additions are good too, with interviews with Alice Krege, who was quite the lovely back in the '80's, as well as the author Peter Starub, and others. I wish, however, they would have added in the deleted scenes, as I think they would have added to the overall story. And at least would have added all of them, specifically the dream sequences, which were quite frightening...I'm referring to the faceless apparition that pulls its head back to reveal a gaping mouth full of rotten teeth, screaming within a nightmarish ether. Though this was later used in 1999's version of House on Haunted Hill, I still think it should have been added in the bluray. Outside of this, it was a joy to watch again, and have in my collection.

Movie is better than the book. Why? First of all it is not disjointed and over long as the book is ( I actually read the book twice) In the movie the story is more concise and comes to a logical conclusion after several major scares. It is hard to follow the ending in the book which ends in a some what strange way that leaves an opening for a sequel which of course never occurred. And all that shape shifting nonsense was all very confusing and led to who was the apparition they were facing at any giving time. So much for the book. The movie simplifies all this by changing several things in the story line and as a result it is much easier to follow. Alma/Eva is the one only ghost in the move who is out for revenge and wants to destroy the Chowder Society of four old men for what happened many years before. The ending of the movie makes a hell of lot more sense then the book. I thought Alice Krige made a lovely and yet terrifying ghost. I for one enjoyed those nude scenes.